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Giants (4-8) Packers (6-6)
The Packers are coming off a Sunday night 27-19
win over the Kansas City Chiefs. It was close at the end, but they were able to
hold off last ditch attempts by the Chiefs to try and tie up the game.
The
Giants won in their last game played before their bye week against the New England
Patriots. It was a low scoring game, but the Giants were on the right side of
their 10-7 win. Green Bay
Packers
Mike Holmgren became the head coach
of the Green bay Packers in 1992. Green Bay had just two winning seasons in the
19 years before he was hired. Holmgren got them to the playoffs in all the seven
years he was there, including one Super Bowl victory in 1996. Holmgren moved on
to the Seattle Seahawks in 1999 where he was given the opportunity to be the executive
vice president, general manager and head coach.
Ray Rhodes took over for two
years, and then Mike Sherman for six years, getting them to the playoffs in four
of those years, and his last was in 2005.
With Green Bay finishing at 4-12,
for their first losing record since the 1991 season, Sherman was fired. Mike McCarthy
became the head coach, and led the team to numerous playoffs, and in 2010 a Super
Bowl win. After back to back losing years in 2017-18, they moved on from McCarthy.
Matt LaFleur took over, and the NFC North division title went to the Green Bay
Packers for three straight seasons. Last year they finished in third place with
an 8-9 record, and are currently in third place now. As we've seen over time,
that has not been a good spot for head coaches to be in on this team.
Green Bay Packers Offense
Aaron Rodgers was the Packers quarterback for
15 years, and now it's Jordan Love. Their 2020 first round pick sat behind Rodgers,
and had very few opportunities to play in his first three years. Love got off
to a slow start this season in his new role, and in the first seven games had
thrown 10 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. The record was 2-5, but since then the
Packers have won four of their last five games. Coming into this one, Love has
improved his numbers to 22 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
The most targeted
receiver with the most receptions is Romeo
Doubs who leads the team with 7 touchdowns. Next would be Jayden Reed and Christian
Watson, who each have 5 touchdowns. Those three receivers have accounted for 17
of Love's 22 touchdowns, and over half of the teams receiving first downs.
Aaron
Jones was the leading rusher last season, but has missed games, and may not play
in this next one. Playing in only 7 games to date, Jones has given it his all,
and has 2 of the teams 6 rushing touchdowns, and another one catching. AJ Dillon,while
dealing with a groin issue, has taken the rushing lead with 149 carries for 521
yards and 1 touchdown. Love has two rushing touchdowns, and Reed has one. Overall,
the rushing game has taken a downturn from last year. They had averaged 124 yards
a game, and now just 105, with both running backs also averaging less yards per
carry. Green Bay Packers
Defense
The Packers have used 12 of their
last 13 first round draft picks on the defense. Last year their passing defense
was ranked 6th, and rushing defense was 26th. Their passing defense still ranks
high, but is giving up 4.5 yards per carry and ranks 30th in rushing yards allowed.
Though they won their game last week against Kansas City, they allowed running
back Isiah Pacheco 110 yards, averaging 6.1 yards a carry. Their passing defense
on the other hand, limited Patrick Mahomes to 21 completions on 33 passes for
210 yards. Mahomes threw one touchdown, was sacked 3 times, and had one interception
in the Packers 27-19 win.
Throwing touchdown passes against this defense is
not easy, as they rank fourth in passing touchdowns allowed this season. Last
year when they matched up against the Giants in London, Daniel Jones threw no
touchdowns. The Giants beat the Packers with two field goals and three rushing
touchdowns, one each by Saquon Barkley, Gary Brightwell, and Daniel Bellinger
for their 27-22 win. Going into that game, linebacker Rashan Gary led the team
in sacks, pressures, knockdowns, and hurries.
It was linebacker Preston Smith
who got the only sack on Jones in that game, and he went on to finish the season
with the team lead in sacks with 8.5. Gary ended up second with 6 sacks after
playing in only nine games after suffering a torn ACL. The Packers finished up
with 34 total sacks on the season. They currently have 29 sacks, and Gary has
come back strong, leading the team with 9 sacks. Smith has 5.5, and tackle Kenny
Clark has 4.5. Top cornerback Jaire Alexander led the team with 5 interceptions
last year. Alexander has missed the last few games with shoulder issues, but could
return, being listed as questionable for this game. NY
Giants Offense
Tommy DeVito will be the
starter for this game on Monday night. There were some thoughts that veteran Tyrod
Taylor would have that spot since he's become available after coming off IR. As
expected, DeVito's performance has improved with more playing time. The rookie
has started the last three games, throwing six touchdown passes and one interception,
and the Giants have won their last two games. Against Washington and New England,
DeVito completed 68.6 percent of his passes for 437 yards, had 4 touchdowns and
no interceptions.
DeVito leaned heavily on Jalin Hyatt last game, targeting
him six times, and with good results. Hyatt caught 5 passes for 109 yards, and
three of them went for 22, 29, and 41 yards. Darius Slayton is the leading receiver
on the team, and has 8 receptions of 20 or more yards. Hyatt has 7 of those on
just over half as many targets and receptions. DeVito has played in just 5 games
this season, and is responsible for 7 of the Giants total 11 passing touchdowns.
DeVito's also run for one of the Giants four rushing touchdowns.
You can see
from those overall numbers why the Giants are averaging just 13 points a game.
Saquon Barkley has missed three games, but has caught 4 touchdowns, and has run
for another. The Patriots are near the top with their rushing defense, and last
game their focus on Barkley limited him to 46 yards on 12 carries. In the three
games before that, he averaged over 5.5 yards per carry. The Giants need to sustain
drives to have a more balanced attack with Barkley heavily involved.
Giants Defense
They
have been very aggressive in the last games they've played. The Giants have forced
9 takeaways in the two games before the bye week. Three of those turnovers were
interceptions in the Giants last game with New England. It may be hard to keep
that up, as Jordan Love has been in sync with his receivers and hasn't thrown
an interception in his last three games, all wins for the Packers. It's not easy
to get sacks on Love who gets good protection. The Giants need to bring pressure,
and linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux leads the team with 11 sacks.
Dexter Lawrence
is second with 4 sacks, and Lawrence is ranked second at his position with 53
total pressures. Lawrence missed the last game with a hamstring injury, but has
made the last few practices, and is listed as questionable for this game. In the
secondary, cornerbacks Deonte Banks and Darnay Holmes each have 2 interceptions.
Their coverage job is slightly easier as wide
receiver Christian Watson will be out for this game. Overall
Looking back to last years game with Green
Bay, the Giants were the visiting team, but it was in the neutral atmosphere of
London instead of Lambeau Field. The Packers had never played a game overseas,
and the Giants have done so twice and won both games. The Packers with Aaron Rodgers
were listed as heavy favorites, but the Giants won.
The Giants had Daniel
Jones then, and he played a careful game with no turnovers. Tommy DeVito has shown
he can do that as well. This year the game is at MetLife Stadium, and the Packers
are again favored to win with Jordan Love running the show. Giants fans would
'love' to see another upset on Monday Night. NFC
East Games
Sunday at 8:20pm Eagles (10-2)
at Cowboys (9-3).
Monday at 8:15pm Packers (6-6) at Giants (4-8).
The Cowboys
are the only NFC East team favored to win in these games.
Check out.
Giants
On The Air. Listen to the Radio Broadcasts.
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Next Games
Dec
17 Giants at Saints
Dec 25 Giants at Eagles
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